Connecting Community

Newberg Church of the Nazarene has a mission to be involved in the community of Newberg by sharing Christ’s message of love, compassion, and grace. We desire to reach out in tangible ways throughout the city and in the lives of people.

Small Town America

Experience small-town America in historic downtown Newberg. For visitors descending into the green Chehalem Valley from Portland, it’s the first stop in their tour of Oregon wine country. For locals, it’s our living room, a friendly place where we gather to work, shop and play. From our First Friday Art Walks to summers Tunes on Tuesday, no matter who you are, you are welcome downtown. Come see what we have to offer!

Newberg History

Ewing Young, after leading pioneering fur brigades in California, came to Portland in 1834 and settled on the west bank of the Willamette River near the mouth of Chehalem Creek, opposite of Champoeg. Young’s home is believed to be the first house built by European-Americans on that side of the river. Later, Joseph Rogers settled near the Willamette River at what is now Newberg in 1848. The community was known early on as Chehalem, and later as Roger’s Landing for Rogers who founded the settlement, and who died in 1855. In 1883, the community was platted. Incorporated in 1889, tradition holds that this town was named by its first postmaster, Sebastian Brutscher, for his former hometown of Neuberg in Germany One of the current streets, Brutscher Street, is named after Brutscher.

Newberg was one of the first communities in Oregon to hold Quaker services. It was incorporated as a city in 1889. The city’s oldest surviving newspaper, The Newberg Graphic, was established Dec. 1, 1888. Friends Pacific Academy, renamed Pacific College in 1891 and then George Fox University in 1949, was founded by the Quakers in 1885. George Fox University is classified by U.S. News & World Report as a first-tier regional university and “Best Value” school. The campus resides in the center of the city, surrounded by university-owned housing.

Herbert Hoover moved to the city in 1885, to live with his uncle and aunt after the death of his parents and was one of the first students to attend his uncle’s Pacific Academy. The home has been turned into the Hoover-Minthorn House museum.